The rep on here most likely is in Texas, but the company is from SA. I can tell you that much.
Hi Brett–
Mostly correct on all accounts. SmartCap was born in South Africa, and launched our brand in North America in 2020, and then expanded operations in NA with a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in 2023 in Fort Worth, Texas. We'll have a team that will interact on this forum based both in SA and NA. We look forward to hearing about everyone's Ranger/SmartCap adventures, and helping out in any way we can.
Thanks! Do you have any advice for a power source for lights inside the smart cap? Can the third brake light wire be tapped? If not, do you have any advice for a no-drill solution for routing wires into the smart cap?
Unfortunately with how the Ranger is, the best options would either be some wires directly from the starter batter with a switch or to have a second battery nearby. If you go off of the 7 pin trailer plug of the brake lights, you could have some problems. Even @airline tech can help with the idea.
As we don't handle interior lighting solutions, we would suggest reaching out to those that do. Offroad Alliance (www.offroadalliance.com – one of our online dealers) has some great solutions for lighting the interior of the cap. Tom or Cody are very experienced in the ways of SmartCap lighting.
You can use the third 12v power circuit that's tucked under the drivers side rear fender. There's plenty of info on it. Personally, I use that circuit for ignition power so I don't have to tap fuses.
The only problem with that particular circuit is you have to have the key on. Once the key is turned off you might have 15 minutes of power at best
Yeah, but if all you need is a little intermittent light every now & then, it's fine. If you need anything more, do you really wanna be pulling that off your starting battery? Fwiw, 12v aux battery components are getting way more cost effective.
Not sure if you remember or not but I did have that bed lighting system from Ford going off my starter battery on my 2019 Ranger. Because it was LED it pulled very little and wasn't an issue. It also had its own built-in computer per se that would leave the lights on for no more than 10 to 15 minutes at best
So that's the same idea as the 3rd 12v circuit. Perfectly fine for occasional use.
would vinyl wrapping the roof of the smartcap (to reduce heat) void the warranty?This 5G Ranger build is courtesy of one of our early adopters (Instagram @rocky.mtn.ranger). Beautiful views, and the mountains look good too! SmartCap lets you build your bed to fit your life. Looks like he's definitely doing that!
SmartCap – Get Your Adventure On!
If not mistaken you can request a different color than Black(for a cost I would suspect) to help with that.
We definitely have seen customers that have added a white vinyl wrap to the roof in order to reflect sunlight. And as "Frenchy" noted, we do have our EVOc Commercial edition available in white for the 6' bed for the 5th Gen Ranger.
